Method of and apparatus for treating one fluid by another



Dec. 13, 1927.

S.'-J. DICKEY METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FQR TREATING ONE FLUID BY ANOTHER Filed Jan. 16, 1925 I5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 13, 1927. 1,652,399

S. J. DlCKEY METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING ONE FLUID BY ANOTHER 3 Sheets-Sheet. 2

Filed Jan. 16, 1923 &\\\\\\\\\\\ a Farsi/v7 U I Paw FL u/0 HTYvRNEYa 5PE'N7' PERGENT SHMUEL J. D/c/(EY,

7 Dec. 13, 1927.

, 1,652,399 5. J. DICKEY METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING oN FLUID BY ANOTHER Filed Jan. 16; 1923 5 Sheets-sheet $5 janqzaqrox? k 1 a iPatented Dec. 13, 1927.

SAMUEL DICKEY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORN I T' OFFICE.

CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

' METHOD OIf AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING ONE FLUID BY ANOTHER.

I Applicatiomfiled January 16, 1923. Serial No. 618,064.

My invention can be best explained by referringto a concrete example of its use, although it is capable of many uses. For the purpose of illustration, I have selected the treatment of kerosene by acid. Kerosene as it comes from the usualrefining process contains many impurities which aii'ect its color and odor and it is a common practice to treat such kerosene with acids and alkalis and to wash-it with water for the purpose of improving its color and odor. My invention may be used in various ways in this process but for the purpose of simplicity of description I will describe it as applied to the acid treatment of kerosene without of course limiting my invention to this particular step in the process of refining kerosene.

In the treatment of kerosene with acid, as now practiced in the art of oil refining, the acid is passed through the kerosene which is carried in suitable tanks or agitators. The acid, beingheavier than the kerosene, tends to sink into the bottom of the tanks and it, is necessary if any considerable degree of commercial eflic-iency is to be attained that the acid and kerosene be intimately mixed and that they be held: in contact with each other for asufiicient period for the acid to act upon the kerosene. This is at present accomplished, to some degree, by the use of agitation in the tanks, this agitation bein sometimes produced by blowing air throug the mass of acid and kerosene in the tank. The present methods of treating kerosene re, q iircr'large and expensive agitators and the mixture of oil andacid must remain in them I for-considerable periods thus requiring large investment in such agitators and a correspondingly large loss through depreciation and costof operation.

It is an object of my invention to provide afmethod and apparatus b which the kero sene. may. be treated by aci at alow cost and by which. the investment in agitators"inay F be very greatly reduced over that at present necessary when using the employed processes.

kerosenebecomes' exhausted forming an acid sludg'e, The further exhaustion is carried the lower the? 'costof acid will be, and it is a further object lof myinvention to pro .vide amethod acid may be almost completely exhausted and an acid the ,tank.

7 connected 'a as shown in and valves 29 with an Thejaciid continued contact with the and apparatus in which the.

tators or kerosene.

a long continued treatment oft A, ASSIGNOR TOGENERAL PETROLEUM Further objects and advantages will be made evident hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings which are for.

illustrative purposes only,

F g. 11s an elevation of a preferred embodlment of the apparatus used in practicing my invention.

F g. 2 1s a plan view of the same.

1g. 3 is a section through an injector nozzle, and,

Fig. 4 is a section of a multiple stage treatcr in somewhat diagrammatic form.

Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views illustrating alternative forms of apparatus with which the invention may be employed.

In the form of treater shown in Figs.

and 2, a tank 11 is provided, this tank havi a tlght bottom 12 and a tight top 13 into which a refined kerosene pipe 14 is connected. A spent sludge pipe 15 having a valve 18 is connected into the tank near its bottom passes through the side of the tank near inlet pipe 16 having a valve 9 its top terminating ina spray nozzle 17 inside Connected into the tank tangen tially is. an inlet header 20 into which are these pipes with a nozzle 24 which is connected throu a pipe25 and a suitable keroseneinlet pipe 27.

' The pipes '21 are shown as parallel and as connected through pipes plurality of injector pipes 21, havinga constricted portion 22, Fig. 3. Each pipe 21 is provided valve 26 with a raw substantially outlet manifold 30,

this outlet manifold being'tangentially connected into the tank 11 at a point considerably above the let manifold 20.

point of contact of the in- The method of operation of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 when used treat kerosene with acid is as follows:

The lnerosene which it-isdesired to treat is introduced ,into the tank 11 through the pipe 27. This pipe connects into the pipes 25, each of which is connected into one of Fig. 3. The oil with considerable the nozzles 24 as shown in from the nozzle 24 flows force through the constricted portion 22 the corresponding pipe 28 and back throng the valves 29. and the header 30 into the ta of h.

11. In its passage through the nozzle 24 and the constricted portion 22 of the pipe 28 the flowing stream of kerosene acts as an injector sucking previously introduced and somewhat mixed liquid from the inlet pipe 20 and forcing it violently into the pipe 28.

Acid is delivered into the tank 11 by the pipe 16 and the spray nozzle 17 This nozzle serves to divide the acid and mix it with the kerosene already in the tank 11. It is, however, of only very limited efiiciency in this connection and the acid might almost as well be delivered directly into the bottom of the tank 11 by any convenient means not shown. It is however, just as easy to spray the acid in and this spraying is of some value.

The acid, however, is only very roughly divided by the spray nozzle 17 and it falls almost immediately into the bottom of the tank 11 due to its much greater specific gravity than oil. As soon as sufiicient acid accumulates in. the bottom of the tank to reach the level of the inlet pipe 20, this acid is drawn over into the space inside the pipes 21 around the nozzles 24 and by the action of these nozzles is drawn through the constrietions 22 into intimate contact and mixture with the kerosene flowing through these nozzles.

The pipes 28 are of graduated sizes and one or more of them can be entirely cut out of service by the use of the valves 26 and 29.

- These valves are manipulated to suit the amount of kerosene delivered to the pipe 27 by the source that a very intense turbulent action is set up in the pipes 28 thus intimately mixing and preventing the separation of the kerosene and acid. The pipes to be put in service for efficient action can be determined by trial and this number is thereafter regulated to suit the quantity of kerosene delivered by the pipe 27.

In their passage through the pipes 28, the kerosene and acid form an extremely intimate mixture and this mixture is delivered through the pipe 30 tangentially int-o the tank 11. Since thepipc 30 and the pipe 20 both enter the tank tangentially but inopposite directions, and since the fluid flows in opposite directions in' these pipes. it is evl dent that their action is cumulative and that they both tend to set up a rotation of the mass of oil and acid in the tank. 11, which rotation acts centrifugally upon the kerosene and acid, throwing the heavy acid to the periphery of the tank and the kerosene into the center. The acid "falls to the bottom of the tank in apartly exhausted form and is again caught up by the surtion of the pipe 20 and redelivered to the ipes 28 where it isagain mixed with fresh kerosene and further exhausted. This cen- In practice,

of supply in such a manner trifugal separation is desirable but not absolutely necessary as the kerosene and acid separate readily by gravity.

The degree of the final exhaustion of the acid to the acid sludge is determined by the rate at which the acid sludge is continuously drawn off through the pipe 15 which can be regulated by the valve 18 and the rate of flow of fresh acid delivered through the pipe 16 which can be regulated by the valve 9. the-valve 18 is manipulated to give the desired degree of exhaustion of the sludge and the valve 9 is manipulated to maintain a certain level of acid and acid sludge in the tank 11, which can be very readily determined by the gauge glass 31.

I believe that the demonstrated efliciency of my invention is due to the high degree of turbulence maintained in the pipes28 by the use of the nozzles 24 and by a suitable regulation of the valves 26 and 29 which are manipulated to maintain this turbulence. This turbulence intimately mixes the kerosene and acid and allows the acid to act efliciently upon the oil.

The treated kerosene flows through the pipe 14 to another treater similar to that shown and described above where it may be further treated with acid, alkali or water.

Further economies may be obtained by the apparatus shown somewhat diagrammatically in Fig. 4. In this sketch, 40, 41 and 42 are tanks which are superimposed, one upon the other, being separated by partitions 43 and 44. Three tanks are shown but more or less may be used if found convenient. The kerosene is delivered through a pipe into an injector 51 which is fed acid slud e from a body of sludge shown at 52, the evel of this sludge being maintained by means of. a valve 53 1n :1 spent sludge pipe 54, by, means of a valve 53. The kerosene and acid are mixed in a pipe 55 and are delivered through a distributor 56 into the tank 42. Acid sludge may be continuously drawn off through the pipe 54 and partially treated kerosene is then delivered through a pipe (50 from the top of thetank 42 to an ejector til and into a pipe 63 which is fed with sludge, from a body ofsludge 64 carried at the bottomof the tank 41, the mixture from the pipe 63 being delivered through a distributor 65 into the tank 41.

The level of the sludge in the tank 41 is maintained by a. pipe 70. this pipe connect ing into the tank 41 at a desired level and delivering the sludge into the body of sludge in the lower tank.

In the event that the sludge falls below the level of the pipe in the tank 41 and oil enters this pipe, the oil will not flow downwardly due to the fact that the tank 42 is under slightly higher ,pressure'than the tank 41. The sludge will, however, flow downwardly due to its being heavier than.

' distributor 7 the oil and the body or the sludge 64 is automatically maintained.

Partially treated kerosene is then taken from the top of the tank 41 through a pipe 71 and delivered into an injector 72 which takes sludge from a body-of sludge 73 in the bottom of the tank 40, this sludge and oil being mixed in a pipe 74 and delivered through into the tank 40. Cleaned oil is delivered from the tank through a pipe 76 in the extreme top thereof. The level of the sludge in the tank 40 is maintained by constantly supplying acid through a pipe 80 and by supplying a pipe 81 whichconnects-into the tank 40 at the desired level of the sludge delivering the acid sluc go into the body of sludge 64 in the tank 41. In the event that the level of the body of sludge 73 falls below theinletend of the pipe 81, oil starts to flow into this pipe but the flow ceases almostimmediately due to the fact that the tank 41 is under higher pressure than the tank 40 which can only be overcome due to the fact that the acid is heavier than the oil.

It will be seen that the fresh oil intro- I duced into the pipe is first treated with the sludge in the very nearly spent sludge,

much more nearly body of sludge 52 being spent than the sludge at '64, and the sludge 64 being much more nearlyspent than the cessively treated with acid, being finally treated with fresh acid in flow of kerosene from sludge at 73. Fresh acid is supplied through the pipe the result is that the oil is sucahigher activity of the tank 40. By thus passing the acid in one direction through the device in countercurrent with the flow ol oil, a very high economy of acid consumption is obtained. The form of my invention last above described, is specifically claimed in a co-pending application Serial No. 713,339, filed May 14, 1924.

In the previous description of the operation and utility of my invention the separation of the heavy reagent from the kerosene is accmnplished by centrifugal actionand gravity. It will be readily understood, however, that various means of separatin the fluids may be employed such as by vclbcity impact or centrifugal separation. In the apparatus shown (Iiagrannuatically in Fig. 5 the reagent is taken from a reagent container through a pipe 91 which leads into an injector casing 92. This reagent. is drawn from the tank 90 by the injector action of a a nozzle )3 to which the kerosene is delivered through a pipe 94 and a valve 95. which flow of kerosene carrie's with it a quantity of reagent through the constricted orifice 96 wherein the two fiuids are brought into very intimate relationship. 'The reagent and kerosene mixture then flows through pipe 98 to a separator 99 w hich may be of other apparatus or any of the above de-.

scribed forms. In this separator a thorough separation of the reagent .froin the kerosenetakes place, the reagent ,being delivered through piping 100 to the reagent tank 90 and the kerosene beingconducted through .1

piping 102 to the other treating apparatus or storage tanks.

In the form of apparatus suitable for the practice of my invention, shown in Fig. 6, a primary separating tank 105 is employed in which the charge of reagent is originally placed by means of piping 106, this reagent being maintained in the tank 105 at a level substantially as indicated at 107. In this apparatus the reagent is drawn from the bottom of the tank 105 through piping 108 by the injector action of a flow of kerosene under pressure from a nozzle 109a The reagent'and the kerosene are then subjected to the hereinbefore described combining actionaccomplished by their passage through a constricted channel 110 from which they are delivered-through piping 112 into the upper part of the tank 105. In this tank such portions of the reagent, which are in large enough drops to separate by gravity from the kerosene, drop downwardly in the tank 105 and combine with the reagent in the bottom thereof, while those portions of the reagent which areso intimately mixed with the kerosene that they will not separate readily by gravity are carried through piping 115 to a separator 116 from which the reagent is returned to thetank 105 through pipe 117 and the kerosene forwarded to storage tanks through piping 118. v i

In the practice of my invention with equipment of thecharacter indicated at Figs. 5 and 6, it may be desirous to employ several sets of equipment such as shown in either Figs. 5 or 6, through which the kerosene is consecutively conducted, and in which the kerosene is subjected to reagents of gradually increasing strength, or of varying characteristics, thus making it possible to introduce crude or impure kerosene at one end of the system and to withdraw it from the opposite end thereof in a condition ready for sale.

- While I have described my invention as used in the treatment of kerosene by means of acid, I do not wish to be understoodas thereby intending to limit myself to this particular application but, on the contrary, Wish it to be distinctlymy' invention is defined solely by the attached claims. t

I claim as my invention:

1. In a continuous method of refining oil, steps for intimately mixing the and for repeatedly utilizing the reagent, said steps comprising: maintaining a layer of re g ntin a substantial y elo edive el to any understood that oil With'a reagent heavierthan and insoluble in the oil til) , inlet for fresh reagent,

certain level below the top thereof, the remainder of space in the vessel containing oil; continuously introducing fresh reagent into said vessel; continuously withdrawing spent reagent at such rate as to maintain the level of reagent; continuously injecting into the vessel a confined stream of raw oil under pressure by a pressure producing means; inducing into and solely by means of the said oil stream a stream of reagent from the reagent within said vessel; intermixing the two streams while confined solely through the agency of the velocity-energy of the stream of raw oil, said induction and intermixing taking place beyond and on the discharge side of the pressure producing means, and discharging the intermixed streams into the same vessel for circulating and repeatedly intermixing the reagent with the raw oil, the treated oil and the reagent continuously separating by gravity diiference; and continuously discharging treated oil from the top of the vessel at'a rate substantially equal to the rate of feed of raw oil.

2. A process of the character defined in claim 1, in which the two streams are turbulently intermixed: solely through the agency of the velocity-energy of the stream of raw oil.

3. A process of the character defined in claim 1 in which the intermixed streams are discharged into the vessel at a point above the upper surface of the reagent layer and below the upper surface of the oil layer.

4. A process of the character defined in claim 1, in which a plurality of streams of raw oil under pressure are injected into a chamber communicating with the vessel, each of such streams inducing into itself a stream of reagent from such reagent body and each of the combined streams being intermixed through the agency of the velocityenergy ofthe stream of raw oil making part ofisuch combined stream.

5. An apparatus for continuously treating oil with reagent heavier than and insoluble in the j oil. such apparatus comprising: a substantially closed vessel provided with an a valve controlled outlet at the bottom of the vessel for spent reagent, an outlet for treated oil at the top of the vessel, a pipe for conveying raw oil under pressure into the vessel and an aspirating'injector intowvhich said pipe discharges, said injector communicating on its suction side with the lower partof the vessel.

6Q An apparatus for continuously treating oil with a'reagent heavier than and insoluble in the: oil such apparatus comprising: a substantially closed vessel provided with an inlet for 'fresh reagent, a valve controlled outlet at the bottom of the vessel for spent reagent, an outlet for treated oil at the top of the vessel, a pipe for conveying raw oil under pressure into a plurality ofaspirating injectors, which injectors comm'unicateon their suction side with the lower part of the VGSLIBl and also communicate with the vessel at a point above the of the suction side 0 vessel.

7. .An apparatus for continuously treating oil with a reagent heavier than and insoluble in the oil, such apparatus comprising: a sub stantially closed vessel provided with an inlet for fresh reagent, an outlet for treated oil at the top of the vessel, a pipe for conveying raw oil under pressure into a plurality of aspirating injectors, which injectors communicate on their suction side with the. lower part'of the vessel and discharge each into a bent pipe, which pipes communicate with the vessel at a point above the point of communication of the suction side of said injectors with the vessel. a

8. An apparatus for continuously treating oil with a reagent heavier than and insoluble in the oil, such apparatus comprising: a substantially closed vessel provided with an inlet for fresh reagent, an outlet for treated oil at the top of the vessel, a pipe for conveying raw oil under pressure into a plurality of injectors, which injectors communicate on their suction side with the lower part of the vessel and discharge each into a bent pipe, which pipes discharge into the vessel at a pointabove the point of communication of the suction side. of said injectors with the vessel, each of such pipes being provided with a stop valve for the closure thereof.

9. An apparatus for continuously treating oil with reagent heavier than and in soluble in the oil, said apparatus comprising: a substantially closed vessel provided with aninlet for fresh reagent. a valve controlled outlet at the bottom for spent reagent, an outlet for treated oil at the-top of the vessel, an injector con'i 'irising a hollow hodyand a jet inside said body and in annular relation thereto. a pipe for conveying raw oil under pressure into said jet, a pipe communicating wvith the lower portion of the vessel for conveying reagent from said vessel into the annular space between said jet and said body and into admixture with said oil stream, and a confining channel for-conveying the oil and the reagent from the injector into said vessel and for completing the admixture of said oil with said reagent.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Kngeles, California SAMUEL J. DICKEY said injectors with the oint of connnunication' Gil 

